How to Make Shears in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Craft shears from iron ingots. Use them to shear sheep, mooshrooms, snow golems and bogged, to harvest honeycomb from full beehives, to carve pumpkins and to collect leaves, vines and cobwebs as items. Durability is 238 in Java and 239 in Bedrock.

What you need

2 iron ingots

Step by step

Craft the shears: 2 iron ingots placed diagonally in the grid.
Shear a sheep: it drops 1 to 3 wool and can be sheared again after it eats grass to regrow its coat.
Shear other mobs: a mooshroom drops 5 mushrooms and becomes a normal cow for good, a snow golem loses its carved pumpkin for good, and a bogged drops 2 mushrooms once.
Harvest a beehive or bee nest that is full of honey: it drops 3 honeycombs and resets to honey level 0. Without a campfire or soul campfire below it, nearby bees attack you.
Shear a pumpkin to turn it into a carved pumpkin, which drops 4 pumpkin seeds in Java and 1 in Bedrock.
Break cobwebs, leaves, vines, glow lichen, seagrass, ferns, dead bushes and other plants with shears to get them as items. Wool breaks faster with shears too.
Shears lose 1 durability per shearing or block broken. Combine two damaged pairs to add their durability plus 5%.

Java vs Bedrock

Durability is 238 in Java and 239 in Bedrock. Pumpkin shearing drops 4 seeds in Java and 1 in Bedrock. Dispensers can use shears on sheep, mooshrooms, snow golems, bogged and beehives, but not to carve pumpkins.

Versions: Describes the current Java and Bedrock releases. See the edition note above for differences.

Frequently asked questions

How many uses do shears have?

238 in Java and 239 in Bedrock.

How much wool does shearing a sheep give?

1 to 3 wool. The sheep regrows it after eating grass.

How do I get honeycomb?

Shear a beehive or bee nest that is full of honey. It drops 3 honeycombs. Put a campfire below to keep the bees calm.

Can a dispenser use shears?

Yes, on sheep, mooshrooms, snow golems, bogged and beehives. Failed attempts do not damage the shears.